


Riodhachd

by SnowyCarnations (CrimsonCarnations)



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 11:56:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11230443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimsonCarnations/pseuds/SnowyCarnations
Summary: “I’m sure whatever they make will be better than the chefs where I am from. What they make… It’s utter shite.” He is starting to get impatient, and the urge to smoke is also hitting him. “Would you like a cigarette?” He asks, pulling out one and lighting it.





	1. Chapter 1

The funeral was one of the hardest days he had ever experienced. His parents dying together, leaving him, the barely 18 year old prince, to fend for himself and the rest of the kingdom. The people who he was meant to trust only wanted to take advantage of him and he knew that if he wasn’t careful any nearby kingdom may take advantage of his ignorance. 

Arthur put away the letter from that day. On the day of the funeral he had received a letter from the chosen groom’s family. Alistair, the man whom he was to marry, was to be here a week after the funeral. If Arthur was correct, that should be today. He was to wait inside, not show any informal emotions, or anything more than respect until they were alone. Which would likely not be un til they slept. They were not to sleep in the same bed until they were wed, but they would sleep in the same room. Until they married their beds were separated by two nightstands. If Arthur was being honest he wasn’t anything less than nervous. Here came this man whom he had to marry and they had never met before. 

The Englishman gave a heavy sigh as he pulled on a formal outfit. Black pants, a white shirt, ascot (which he would love to avoid wearing), and a long purple coat. The coat was littered with decorations of silver and gold and honestly Arthur thought it looked awful, not to mention uncomfortable. But it was the type of clothing he was meant to wear. He went out and waited in the opening hall, standing between the stairs with his hands at his sides and his advisor scolding him every time he moved. He was to bow to Alistair and they were not to touch each other more than a handshake. That is what he was told over and over and over again.

Alistair looks outside the carriage, ignoring the person who is telling him how to act. He knows. He’s heard it since he was a kid. Alistair’s hair is slicked back, and the clothes he’s wearing make him feel incredibly uncomfortable. Alistair would have been happy to spend the rest of his life in their garden, but his parents tell him that’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable that he just wants to have a simple life. He pulls at his collar until he feels he can breath, glaring up at the castle. 

He heads inside and looks around with disdain on his face. He is shown to Arthur, and he can’t say he hates the look of his future husband, but that doesn’t mean he wants to be forced into a marriage. He holds his hand out. “Hello, my name is Alistair. I’m honored to finally be making your acquaintance.” He says in a professional tone, the one he rehearsed in. 

Arthur relaxed a bit before standing straight again as Alistair entered. He had to admit, the man was not anything like he had expected, looks wise. He took Alistair’s hand carefully in his own and firmly but formally shook it once. “Hello, Alistair. My name is Arthur. I am sure the honor is mine” he bowed slightly before standing straight again. “I’m sure you have heard of the situation with my parents. I apologise for the short notice and having to move this wedding up. I hope we can still have time to get to know each other at least a little before the wedding. A dinner is being prepared for your arrival and if you would like we have a tour of the castle planned for you” 

Alistair stands straighter, not bowing because he wasn’t told to. “It’s quite alright.” He says through gritted teeth. “How are you handling their deaths?” He is slightly worried about his husband-to-be on that front. It’s never something he would want to happen to him, no matter how shitty his parents can be. “A dinner sounds great, what can I expect it to be? Not utter shite I hope.” He looks around the room, knowing he’s being a bit rude, but he can’t bring himself to care. He glares at the person his parents sent to watch him, then turns back to Arthur. “I’d rather only see the gardens, if that is alright. And my… Our… room…” 

Arthur nodded and shifted a bit. “It’s honestly a bit hard to be pushed into all of this at once without their guidance. But I have to move on. I don’t have time to grieve” he whispered. He looked up at Alistair with wide eyes when he spoke the way he did about dinner. He was a bit dumbfounded but he blinked and nodded. “I have always enjoyed the chefs the meals make...ah um the meals the chefs make. I’m sorry. If all you want to see is our room and the gardens I can take you there myself” He offered. “Unless you would prefer some alone time to explore.” 

Alistair nods slightly when he messes up and shrugs. “It would be nice to get to know you, I suppose. Then you’ll show me around, won’t you?” He isn’t sure if he should take Arthur’s arm, and looks to the person with him for guidance. The man steps over to them and gives a small bow before telling Alistair quietly not to lay a hand on Arthur unless Arthur initiates. Alistair sighs and nods, turning back to Arthur. “I’m sure whatever they make will be better than the chefs where I am from. What they make… It’s utter shite.” He is starting to get impatient, and the urge to smoke is also hitting him. “Would you like a cigarette?” He asks, pulling out one and lighting it. 

Arthur nodded. “I will lead you then” He bowed slightly in return to the man before beginning to lead him towards their room, figuring he will want to be in the Gardens longer. “Ah I hope it is to your liking then” he whispered. “No thank you. I was told not to smoke” he looked towards the windows and bit his lip. “So, were you always raised as if you were to marry me, or just raised then told one day? I’d hope you weren’t just dropped in on. I would love to change the law. Not that I don’t think we could do well. I just believe that marriage should be based on love” he whispered. 

Alistair follows Arthur to the room, pausing for a moment. “Don’t follow us, dammit. I can be a prince without you constantly watching me.” He snaps at the man, before keeping up with Arthur. He takes a drag from the cigarette and shrugs. “I was too, didn’t stop me.” He mutters, but he figures that Arthur is like his siblings and trying to be the perfect prince. He looks around as they walk. “I was raised as if I were going to marry you. From a young age I was taught how to act and what to say and how to say it. I was told not to touch you until we are married. I just became more rebellious as I got older. My parents would flay me alive if they heard the way that I’m talking to you right now.” He blows the smoke away from Arthur, sighing softly. “There’s no such thing as love.” 

Arthur paused when Alistair turned and shifted. This was not really what he expected from his soon-to-be husband. But he supposed this was the exact reason he hated arranged marriages. Who was to say these two would ever actually get along? He sighed and nodded. “I’ve been told the same thing” He shrugged. “I never really got rebellious though because other than being raised to be perfect I was always spoiled” he chuckled slightly and ran his fingers through his hair. He blinked sadly at Alistair’s next comment. “Oh…” He shook his head and opened the bedroom door. “This is our room. Until we are married we sleep in separate beds. That one is mine” he pointed to his bed, getting a bit more serious to hide that he was hurt by that comment. “That one is yours” He pointed to the other. “We’ll meet with one of my advisors to work on a schedule that will work for the both of us. We’ll have to discuss when the best time for the wedding will be. After that we will move to my parents’ bedroom.” he shifted uncomfortably. “And that will be when we have officially become the rulers. Since my parents died prematurely I’ll have to spend time working each day, even before we are wed.” He sighed. 

Alistair looks at Arthur and nods. He looks into the bedroom and nods. “That’s great.” He sits on the bed and looks down at the cigarette. “Do you have something I can put this out in? A dish you don’t care about?” He doesn’t want to just put it out and ruin something that Arthur loves, especially if it reminds him of his parents. He bounces on his bed a bit, before standing up. “I would like to see the garden. I can take some of the work off your shoulders, if you want, but I’d understand if you don’t trust me yet. We don’t have to move to you parents bedroom, we can just get a big bed and put it in here. That way you won’t have to take apart the last real connection you have with them.” Alistair sighs deeply. “You can do whatever you want with the wedding. I’ll let you make all the decisions for it, since I really don’t care. I don’t understand the celebrations that go into signing a piece of paper. The only thing I request is you give me control over the flowers.” 

Arthur shifted uncomfortably. “Sure. That door there is the bathroom. The other bathroom just down the hall should have an actual ashe tray. But there is an unused soap dish in this one” he sat down on his bed and shifted. “Okay we can head to the garden now then” he whispered. “If you want to. I really just have to listen to the advisors right now” he sighed. “I actually sleep in there most of the time. It gives me some connection to them I guess. But I think it will be different once we are married. I think I’d rather leave it if you don’t mind. Their room is just bigger, that’s all” he whispered. He stood again and started to walk towards the door. “I’ll show you the gardens. You can chose whatever flowers you want...I won’t do a big wedding then I guess. The kingdom will want to see it so I have to have one” he had always wanted a big wedding but he wanted to do so with his parents there. Which would never happen now. 

Alistair nods and uses the ash tray at the end of the hallway. He comes back in and nods. “Let’s see the gardens. I wouldn’t mind leaving their room, I don’t really care about the room size. If you’re happy, that’s what counts. If you want a big wedding, have a big wedding for christs sake, Arthur.” He looks over at him. “I don’t care. My parents are expecting something big too, so they’d probably prefer that.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, breaking up the gelled strands of hair. “Alright… Let’s just talk about this now, it’s our wedding, right? I want to have blue bells and white roses at the wedding. It would be nice if we also did black roses, but those are a bit harder to get a hold of. My little sister is going to be my ‘best man’” He puts the last phrase in quotation marks. 

Arthur started to lead him to the garden while he walked. “I guess we could compromise and do something kind of in the middle. I’m sure we could get ahold of black roses if you want them. Are we going to wear white?” he asked. “Or black? Or should we not match?” he shifted. “Okay. I don't really have anyone other than the servants. But there is one who I’d like to have at least close to me. He’s going to be close to us a lot since he is my personal servant. Is there anyone else you want to have stand near us? Oh and how many invitations will you need?” 

Alistair looks at him. “I don’t care what colours we wear.” He responds. “I look my best in blue, but that doesn’t matter to me very much.” Alistair is thrilled that they also have a beautiful garden here. He walks over to some of the flowers and touches the petals softly. “There’s not enough sunlight making it to some of these flowers, that’s why they’re wilting.” Alistair mutters, face set into another frown. He turns to Arthur. “I don’t know, as many as my parents want to invite, I suppose. I’ll contact them later on the matter.” He shrugs and starts to explore the garden. 

Arthur shifted and nodded. “You can wear a blue suit if you want. I’ll wear a white one, since that’s what my parents always wanted” he whispered. “Just let someone in the castle know and they will get the right amount set out.” he whispered. “Oh...how could we fix that?” he asked, moving towards the flowers. “I haven’t had the proper time to come out and check on them” he whispered. “But if you want to we can put you in charge of the gardens” he offered, smiling weakly. 

Alistair nods a bit. “Sure, that would be pretty great. I really love to garden, actually.” He sits down in the grass and leans against a stone pot, playing with a flower that he pulled. He runs his fingers over the petals gently. “Flowers are just… pure… They don’t want to hurt anybody.” He whispers, sighing and leaning his head back. “You’d look nice in white. Not the awful clothes you’re wearing now. Please tell me the suits aren’t going to be embroidered like that.” Alistair looks over at the other flowers. “Well… The trees are blocking them, but I don’t want to cut down the trees… So there’s not much we can do about it. We’d have to move the flowers, but that also poses the threat of them dying…” 

Arthur nodded. “Well then you’re in charge if you want that” he shifted. He sat down next to him and watched him with the flowers. He nodded. “Yeah nothing like humans” he whispered. He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ll wear white then. No I think we are allowed to wear normal suits” he chuckled. “Not only do they look awful but they feel awful too” he muttered. “The trees used to be a bit more trimmed. We could have them trimmed again. Whatever you think will help them” he whispered. 

Alistair nods. “I’ll trim them.” He responds. He snickers softly. “I bet they do. You don’t have any more comfortable clothes? Why do they play up the meetings so much? In the end, we’re still both people.” He starts to weave the flowers into a crown and sets it on Arthur’s head before lighting another cigarette. “I really like it in the gardens. I like the peace and quiet of being out here. And when I’m not smoking, the fresh air.” He closes his eyes and takes a drag. 

“I have comfortable clothes. The clothes I usually wear aren’t this uncomfortable.But I guess it was important to make a good impression between us” he shrugged. He blushed and looked up at the crown, smiling at it. “I like them too. When I had time I was out here all the time. We have a few fruits and vegetables growing on the far side. I used to love taking care of those and picking them when they were ready” He smiled. 

Alistair nods and looks at him. “Well, I’m sure we’ll have free time to do that.” He assures Arthur. “Nothing else for us to do in our free time.” He puts out the cigarette against the side of his shoe and shoves the but back into the pack it came out of. He weaves another flower crown and drops it on top of Arthur’s head as well. He chuckles. “That’s a good look on you. You’d look nicer with the ornate crown. Are we gonna adopt kids?” 

Arthur nodded. “I hope so. I would hate to spend all of my time working like I usually do now.” He looked up at the second crown places on his head and smiled. He looked up at Alistair and shrugged. “I don’t know if I actually have a choice between what I wear at this point” he sighed. He shrugged. “We can if you want to. That would help keep the crown in our names” he whispered. “If not we will have to choose heirs when we are older.”

Alistair shrugs. “I would like to raise some kids. Maybe not fuck them up the way that my parents screwed me and my siblings.” He responds. Alistair sighs softly and looks at Arthur again. He lays down in the grass, blowing out some smoke. “God, it’s such a nice day.” He mutters and puts out the cigarette against the pot beside him. 

Arthur nodded. “I guess that makes sense.” He shifted a bit and looked towards the sky. “Yeah it’s nice outside.” He laid back in the grass as well and sighed. “Even though they did all that...do you still love them?” He asked. He just hated this subject, but he wanted to know. He knew he couldn’t avoid talking about their parents forever. They had some pretty big shadows to live under. 

Alistair looks at him then back at the sky. “No. I don’t love them. I haven’t ever loved them. And honestly, they don’t love me either. They don’t love. None of our siblings have ever been loved by our parents. And our parents don’t love each other. And that’s why I know love doesn’t exist. The simplest of bonds, parental, are loveless and it’s absolutely shite.” He mutters. “I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s fake because of that. A senseless ploy to sell books and make people feel shite about their life and feelings.”


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur looked over at Alistair and he felt tears build up in his eyes. He sat up and looked the other way. “Oh...right” he whispered. He pulled his knees up to his chest and looked up at the sky, small tears flowing down his cheeks. He couldn’t help but feeling hurt. He couldn’t imagine not loving his parents. And oh god that was just another realization. No matter how hard he tried. He was destined to be in a loveless marriage with Alistair because of the betrothal. He had no chance at finding love for himself. He had to be here, with Alistair. 

Alistair looks over at him. “Are you crying?” He asks softly. He looks at the ground. “I’m sorry.” He mutters, running a hand through his hair. He opens his mouth to speak to him but is relieved when instead their personal servants come over to them and tell them that it’s time to eat dinner. Alistair stands up and walks inside, stiff in the back. He does feel bad for making Arthur cry, but it’s not going to make him change his mind. 

Arthur shook his head. “I’m fine” He whimpered softly. He stood up to go with his servant. He went into the bathroom to wash up and then went and took his jacket off. He hung it up and then went down to the table. He hesitated before sitting down and touching the arm of the chair. He shifted and leaned his head against it, a few tears still in his eyes. He looked down and waited, knowing that he would be scolded for not sitting properly when their food was brought out. 

Alistair washes up for dinner, looking at Arthur with mild concern before sitting down in the queen’s chair as he was instructed to do. He looks at the food when it’s brought out, nose crinkled slightly. He isn’t sure that he likes the food that he is seeing. When he is sure that he’s allowed to, he piles some food onto his plate, trying a little bit of each thing. He shrugs slightly. “The food’s pretty good.” He sighs. 

Arthur looked up at Alistair and nodded. “I’m glad it is to your liking then” he whispered. He ate as he was taught, silently and properly. He kept his back straight. He didn’t look anywhere other than his food. Even his parents didn’t actually ever eat like this. But he tended to get serious when he felt these emotions. He ran his fingers through his hair and looked at Alistair for a moment. “Do you shower in the mornings or in the afternoon?” he asked. 

Alistair watches him eating, head tipped to the side. He sits straight as well, but he was never taught to be silent. He shrugs it off and continues to eat. “I shower in the mornings usually. Unless whatever I did during the day left me filthy.” He responds. “You’re very quiet. Did I upset you with what I said before?” He asks. “I saw you crying so there’s no point in lying to me and saying you were okay.” 

Arthur shifted and shrugged. “I was told to be quiet while eating” he whispered. “It’s not really what you said, though it brought it up. It’s my fault. I knew it would be hard to talk about that. I just have a different view than you about love. And it’s hard to know that you don’t believe in it. Because even if I do fall in love with you then you’ll never see it like that and we are doomed to live a loveless relationship. My parents were in love. I’ve seen it. It’s just hard to hear that it’s not like that for everyone. I felt really bad knowing that about you. But it also just reminded me that I had all those privileges...that’s why I didn’t want to say anything. Because I’m just privileged to have had those things” he whispered. 

Alistair looks at him and raises an eyebrow. He tilts his head to the side then rolls his eyes by the times Arthur is done. He doesn’t say anything this time, since he knows that it’s a touchy subject, and Arthur is just getting worse and worse about it. He gets irritated with the thought that it’s a privilege. “That’s a ridiculous sentiment. A privilege? Seriously?” He asks irritably. He stands up quickly and looks at Arthur. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. That’s ridiculous.” He growls softly. “You have no reason to feel bad for me.” Alistair runs a hand through his hair. “God this fucking ridiculous.” He stalks away, heading back out to the garden and crossing his arms across his chest. 

Arthur looked at Alistair, blinking in confusion when he noticed that Alistair seemed to be getting irritated. He shifted uncomfortably and looked away from him. He didn’t really understand why Alistair got upset but he didn’t say anything more. He watched him go and sighed before standing up and thanking the servants as they began to clean. He went up to his parents’ room and locked himself in there for a while, sitting on the bed and pulling their pictures out from under the pillows. “I don’t get it.” he whispered. “You two were betrothed and had such a happy marriage” he muttered. “I want that too” he laid his head down next to the pictures and looked up at the ceiling. “We got a letter today. About how I was too young and should hand the crown to someone more experienced. I know I can’t do that. I don’t know why people think I can” he whispered. “Then Alistair showed up and I just feel like the point has been proven. I’m so young. I don’t know what I’m doing at all. I can’t even keep him happy for a day” 

Alistair is frustrated with Arthur. How could someone care so much about a non-existent ‘feeling’? Alistair tilts his head to the side as he walks around, trying to walk off his irritation. After a cigarette he goes to their bedroom, stripping down to his underwear and getting into bed. He knows he’s going to be in trouble with his parents when they hear about him going off on Arthur, but he can’t bring himself to care. He thinks that Arthur is immature and annoying when it comes to love, but Alistair realizes he’s going to have to look past that eventually. 

Arthur ended up falling asleep on his parents bed, holding the pictures close. A servant came in and gently took the pictures from his hands, placing them under the pillows again and lifting him up. He brought Arthur back into their room and laid him down in his bed. He looked over at Alistair. “Can you remind him to shower in the morning? He forgot tonight” he whispered before backing away and covering him up. 

Alistair looks over and nods a bit. “Fine.” He mutters, pulling his pillow closer. He isn’t used to the room and is having trouble getting to sleep. When the servant leaves Alistair stands up and walks over to the window, sitting on the ledge and looking outside. He leans his head against the window and wonders if he’s ever going to get to go home again. Probably not, he decides and sighs softly. Alistair eventually goes to sleep right there, despite the chill. 

Arthur woke up early, tears in his eyes again. He hated that he dreamt of them. He looked around and realized one of the servants must have moved him in here. He noticed that Alistair was on the window sill and shifted a bit. He ran his fingers through his hair and went over to wake him up. “Alistair?” he asked. “Are you okay?” he whispered. He didn’t want to scare him or anything. He yawned and wiped his eyes before shifting to move away from the window again. 

Alistair wakes up a bit when he hears his name. He looks at him tiredly, neck hurting from the position he slept in. Alistair rubs his neck softly and stands up, nodding a bit. He yawns slightly, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry for yelling at you last night. I’m okay, I was just looking out the window and I fell asleep or something I guess.” He looks at Arthur. “Your servant said you needed to shower this morning.” Alistair grabs some clothes and looks at him. “Where can I find a towel? I would like to shower this morning.” 

Arthur shook his head. “You don’t have to apologize. We should just try to avoid the subject of family maybe? I don’t know. I want us to at least get along.” he whispered. “There are towels in the closets next to the bathrooms. I’ll shower after breakfast and then I have to head to my lessons. This is my last week of lessons so our time will go to work after that. I don’t know if you have a set schedule but you can do anything you need to while I am in my lessons” he explained. 

Alistair looks at him and nods. “Okay.” He grabs a towel from the closet and goes into the bathroom, taking a fast shower. He dries off and heads back to their room, getting dressed before sitting down and lighting a cigarette. He is still extremely tired and his neck hurts, he decides he’s probably going to sleep while Arthur is doing his lessons. He runs a hand through his hair and grabs the ashtray before going down to the dining room to see if breakfast is ready. 

Arthur went down when breakfast was ready and ate it quickly and quietly. He went up to take a shower as he was told. He got dressed in more comfortable clothes, fortunately and then waited around to see if Alistair needed him. He shifted and sighed. He had taken less time than he thought he would. He still had a bit of time before his first lesson. 

Alistair eats his breakfast and looks at Arthur. He’s already laying in bed again when Arthur is finished getting ready, eyes closed. “Have fun.” He tells him, rolling over to look at him. “I’m just gonna sleep. I fucked up my neck and I don’t really want to be up and around when I’m exhausted. That usually just ends up with me being really snippy, and I trust that none of your servants want that.” He sighs. He closes his eyes again. 

Arthur nodded and shifted. “Okay um, let a servant know if you need anything, they will get you whatever you need” He offered. “I’ll come back in here when I finish my lessons and we can do something if you want. Or whatever you want” he muttered before turning and leaving to do his lessons. He sat down in the ‘classroom’ and waited for his first teacher. 

Alistair goes to sleep. He wakes up awhile later, getting up and getting dressed. He finds a servant and asks him how much longer Arthur will be in class, then getting shown to the library since Arthur is still in class. He finds a book on the table and assumes that it’s one of Arthur’s favourites, since it’s worn and has a bookmark in it. He sits down and starts to read it from the beginning. 

Arthur groaned in annoyance through a few of his classes. He struggled with cooking, as always, fought with his piano teacher, again, and struggled in his spanish class. The only class he enjoyed was the violin, a class he had wanted to take. He played it softly and slowly, closing his eyes while he did. He smiled and put it away, thanking the instructor and heading towards the library to meet up with his English instructor. 

Alistair has read about a quarter of the book already. He looks up when someone walks in and greets the English instructor before looking down again. When Arthur walks in he looks up again. “Hello. I hope your lessons have been going well.” He tells Arthur, moving so that he’s not disturbing the lesson. The book is quite interesting, and he’s not ready to give it up yet. 

Arthur nodded to Alistair. “Ah I hope your...you’re having a good morning” he corrected, since Alistair wasn’t also in lessons. He went and sat down with the instructor, going over what they read before and starting to read the next chapter. 

Alistair nods and continues to read. When lunch comes around he closes the book, hungry, and looks over at Arthur. “May I walk with you to the dining room?” He asks softly, hoping to get Arthur to like him again. It would be easier if they liked each other, at least a little bit. Alistair offers his arm, then remembers that they can’t touch each other then lowers his arm. 

Arthur looked up at him and nodded. “Sure. I’d like that” he stood up. He looked at his arm and shifted. “It’s a stupid rule anyway” He grumbled, hooking his arm in Alistair’s gently and starting to walk with him to the dining room. 

Alistair sets his hand on Arthur’s, smiling at him softly as he walks with him, glad that Arthur is letting him escort him. Once in the dining room, Alistair pulls out Arthur’s chair for him then sits beside him, doing everything like his parents taught him. He looks over at Arthur and leans on his hand. “That book, it was quite interesting. Your library is impressive, thank you for allowing me to sit in there.” 

Arthur looked around while they walked. He thanked him and sat down, smiling slightly at him. He pulled his napkin into his lap. “Ah I saw which one you were reading. It’s been my favourite for as long as I can remember” He chuckled. “I’m glad you like the library. You can spend as much time as you want in there. Or anywhere. It’s your castle too now. The only place I ask you to stay away from is my parents’ room. If we aren’t moving into there I want to keep it how they had it. I want to keep that much of them” He whispered. “I mean you can look in there. Just don’t touch anything” He added. “Please” 

Alistair nods. “Of course. I’ll respect that.” He responds. He’s not going to go into Arthur’s parents’ room intentionally. It’s not that interesting to him, and he’d rather spend time reading or in the garden anyway. He doesn’t really want to help with paperwork but wouldn’t make Arthur do it alone, so he’s willing to help out. Alistair looks up when food is set in front of him and thanks them, starting to eat. 

Arthur thanked the servants for their food and started to eat. He shifted in his chair and finished his food silently. He had a lot of work to do after lunch but he honestly just wanted to go lay down again. He hated all this work and he didn’t want to make Alistair help too much since it was mostly his job anyway. 

Alistair looks at him. “Are you busy this afternoon?” He asks. He wants to know what he should focus on. If Arthur is busy, he’s going to go to the garden to clean it up and get it on the path to growing right, but if Arthur isn’t, he’s going to ask to go to town to purchase some new plants for the garden. 

Arthur looked up and nodded. “Unfortunately. Not for too long hopefully but I have to fill out some paper work and go into town to meet with someone who will be helping with the wedding. You don’t have to come but it’s up to you. Since it’s for both of us” he shrugged. 

Alistair nods. “I wanted to go to a plant nursery to buy some new plants for the garden, then I wanted to work out there for a while. But I’ll talk to someone about the wedding first.” He watches him. “I’ll work in the garden while you’re doing paperwork, unless you want me to help out.” He finishes his food and just leans on his hand to watch Arthur. 

Arthur nodded. “Okay. We can stop by the nursery on the way back. I should be able to take care of the paperwork myself. I keep up with it so there shouldn’t be too much” he assured. “It’s after we get married that it will start to be too much for one person.” 

Alistair nods. “I’ll make sure that I help out at that point, then.” He responds then stands up. “Well, then I’ll see you in a little while. Where can I find the gardening tools?” He asks, only waiting a few seconds before a servant starts to lead him out to the shed that has them all. He grabs a set of gloves and the clippers then heads out. 

Arthur nodded. “Thank you. Alright. There is a shed right before the actual garden.” he tilted his head when he realized the servant was taking him then went back to his office to work on the papers he had to fill out. 

Alistair works in the garden until Arthur is done. By that time, he’s covered in dirt, grime, and sweat. He smiles wildly at Arthur when he sees him. “Wow! I forgot how much I enjoyed doing this!” He says happily. “Thanks for letting me.” He pulls Arthur into a hug, in turn, covering the prince in mud and dust. 

Arthur chuckled when he saw him, looking down at his body then back at his face. He rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Well we’ll both have to shower before we head out now” he said with a slight huff. “I’m glad you enjoy it though. It’s nice to have something you enjoy when the rest of your life is hard. And even if it’s not hard now I think it will be” he whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

Alistair pauses for a moment then lets go of him. He steps back and runs a hand through his hair. “My apologies.” He mumbles, a slight red tinting his cheeks. He looks down at the ground. “I’ll go bathe then.” He puts the gardening tools away then heads inside. Why does it bother him so much that Arthur looked so sad?

Arthur shifted. “Ah sorry. I’m a bit of a killjoy aren’t I?” he chuckled and shifted. “Um...try to dress somewhat nicely so we leave a good impression” he whispered before turning and heading into his bathroom. He showered quickly then got into one of his nicer outfits. 

Alistair bathes then gets dressed, sighing softly. He hates his fancier clothes, but he’s not in the mood to fight with Arthur at the moment, especially since he already feels shut down. He slicks back his hair and looks at himself in the mirror before walking away. 

Arthur went down and waited near the door for Alistair. He lead him to the carriage and thanked the servant who opened the door. He climbed in then shifted and looked at Alistair. “I’m sorry I’m such a downer” he shifted. “I find it really hard to be happy right now and I tend to ruin it for other people and I’m sorry. I want you to be able to be happy here”

Alistair looks at him then shrugs. He looks out the window of the carriage. “You don’t need to apologize.” He responds flatly. “I won’t be happy as long as I have to be royalty like this. It would have been easier for me to be just born a peasant. But that’s not your fault, so there’s no need to apologize. I’m going to marry you and we’re going to work through it together.” 

Arthur looked at Alistair and sighed. “I...just wish it didn’t have to be like this. I wish you didn’t have to marry me. I wish...a lot of things. But no matter how hard I wish it never seems to matter” he whispered, looking out the window closer to him 

Alistair sighs. “I’m not upset about marrying you. I’m sorry your parents chose so badly.” He huffs out. “I’m upset about having to work in royalty. I was given no choice. I’m sorry that I can’t ‘love’ you, Arthur.” He is mildly frustrated at the moment. He sits up even straighter before pulling out a pack of cigarettes. 

Arthur looked over at him again. “...They didn’t chose badly” He said in a defensive tone. “They never chose badly. They may have chosen strangely but they always knew things would work out right in the end. The never chose badly. I don’t care if you love me. You clearly don’t believe in it. But I’m not going to stand by and listen to you claim it doesn’t exist. I loved my parents and they loved me. So it may not have happened for you. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen for other people” He stated, tears welling up into his eyes before he looked out the window again. 

Alistair huffs. He lights the cigarette and takes a deep drag before blowing it out the window. “Fucking… I didn’t say it didn’t exist this time, you need to fucking relax. And just because you think it happened for you doesn’t mean other people need to delude themselves.” He snaps. He knows he’s being irrationally angry, but he feels slightly offended. “You have gotten upset more than once that I won’t love you, so you can’t say that you don’t care.” He pushes himself over to the door, hitting the roof to stop it from moving, then gets out of the carriage. He tells the coach to keep moving then follows it stiffly. 

Arthur turned when the carriage stopped and huffed. He wiped his eyes and watched him for a moment before pulling down the curtains in the carriage and pulling his knees onto the seat. He put his arms around them to hold them up and wiped his eyes, sniffling and leaning his head back. He just let himself cry for awhile, at least until the carriage stopped again. He sighed and sat forward, wiping his eyes and making sure he looked presentable again before climbing out of the carriage. 

Alistair had smoked several cigarettes on the walk, and now he smells like it. He walks over to Arthur, very much calmed down. “I’m sorry I snapped at you.” He mumbles, not really feeling guilty about it but wanting to clear the air between them. He sees the place that they’re supposed to be going and offers Arthur his arm again. He wonders why this keeps happening to them. They have a couple good moments, then it all hits the fan over little disagreements. 

Arthur looked up at Alistair and sniffled. He shifted. “I’m sorry too” He whispered. He didn’t feel guilty either and almost didn’t apologize. He looked at Alistair’s arm and sighed, taking it with his own and starting to walk towards the building again. 

The man looked shocked to see them like that but he didn’t speak. He bowed to them then turned and started to lead them inside. “I don’t know what you all have discussed but I am here to help make final decisions. You can take the advice I give or ignore. Whichever.”

Alistair looks at the man. “I want to decide on the flowers.Black roses, white roses, and bluebells.” His tone of voice leaves no room for arguments. “And the ceremony should happen outside.” He moves his hand down to hold Arthur’s, not caring if it’s impolite or if the man cares. He glances over at Arthur. “Arthur is in control of everything else.” 

The man nodded. “Alright. Those a reasonable. I do have one small thing, just for tradition. For outdoor weddings we typically have the alter have a red rose on the peak. It can be black or white but the tradition is red.” he shrugged. He turned to Arthur, trying not to show how confused he is that they are holding hands or even touching at all. 

Arthur shrugged. “I don’t really care how the altar is set up. Other than the flowers I want it to be like my mom and dad’s wedding. I want to do it like they wanted me to” he whispered. “I want them to know I am going to do well, even without them. That’s what I want” 

Alistair stops himself from rolling his eyes at the sentiment. He looks at the man. “Fine, then one red rose. But the rest of the flowers have to be the other ones.” He concedes, hoping to avoid another fight with Arthur. When it’s finally all over, and the arrangements are made, Alistair steps outside, still holding onto Arthur gently. “Where is the gardening shop?” He asks. 

Arthur walked out with Alistair. He looked around a bit, shrugging. “The driver knows where everything is. There are more than one. What kind of plants did you want to get?” he asked, tilting his head. He liked that Alistair was willing to break this rule. It was comforting to be holding him. Even if it was just their hands or arms. It was nice. 

“Flowers, fruit bushes, fruit trees. Pretty much everything.” He smiles slightly at the thought. “Oh and some hanging planters. I was gonna put some strawberry plants in our room, I hope that’s alright…” He rubs the back of his neck and flushes light red, he had forgotten to ask Arthur first. That probably wouldn’t have gone over very well. “And blueberries.” 

Arthur nodded. “Alright. We should be able to get those all in one place” he shrugged. “I don’t mind hanging plants in our room. As long as we make sure not to get the dirt on anything in the room” He shrugged. He climbed into the carriage again.

Alistair nods. He gets into the carriage and sits across from him again. “I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier.” He leans on his hand. “I’ll make sure they don’t get dirt everywhere. They’ll have this special thing inside them to hold the dirt and water in. And then we’ll have strawberries and blueberries all the time in our room.” He hums softly. 

Arthur shrugged. “It’s fine, not something to dwell on” He whispered. He nodded. “Alright. That sounds nice. As long as they are well kept I’m sure there won’t be a problem having them in there. I’d actually like that” he decided. 

Alistair picks out some planters, hanging and otherwise, and then some plants. He picks out some flowers and trees to be sent the next day. He sets up the hanging planters around the window then puts the other planters on one of the windowsills, then plants the strawberries and blueberries. 

Arthur stayed to the side and let him get what he wanted. He smiled and waited a bit, thanking the woman working behind the counter and bowing when she bowed to him. He went home with Alistair and watched him put things up on the windows, tilting his head. “I think they will look really nice when they grow out” 

Alistair nods at him. “I agree. We could put some flowers in there too, if you’d like.” He says and turns to Arthur. “I dunno… Whatever you want though.” He waters the plants then changes into some filthy clothes to go out to the garden and put aside space for the new plants. He asks Arthur’s opinion. 

Arthur nodded. “I’ll leave all that up to you” he chuckled. “When it comes to plants I want what you want” he shrugged. He followed him out to the garden, making sure to also change into more fitting clothes for being in the garden. 

Alistair nods. “Well… What flowers do you like?” He asks, clipping the plants that he sees needs it. He gets dirty again, but he doesn’t care at all, and he doesn’t care if Arthur cares. Alistair starts to clip at the tree that’s been getting in the way of the other plants, shaping it better in the hopes that it will let the flowers get sunlight. 

Arthur hummed in thought. “I like all types of roses. Blue and red ones. White ones are really pretty too” he shrugged. Since he was also in clothes for this occasion he didn’t mind all that much. He watched him, tilting his head and smiling a bit. 

Alistair nods. He thinks that they could plant a few varieties of roses around the trees. He smiles softly at the thought and then straightens out, dusting his hands together. “Sounds great.” He pulls himself into the tree. “Hand me those clippers.” 

Arthur nodded and grabbed the clippers, turning them and holding them out to him so he could grab the handles. “Do you need me to do anything? I haven’t done this in a while” He chuckled. “But I would like to help” 

Alistair starts to trim the tree higher up. He looks down at him. “Look for flowers and other plants that look like they need to watered. You can water them if you want.” He smiles down at Arthur then continues. He lowers the clippers to the ground when he’s done and then jumps down, pulling his shirt off from feeling too hot. 

Arthur nodded and did just that, moving around the garden and watering anything that looked too dry. He was careful not to overwater anything since he knew that could damage the plant just as much as not watering it enough. 

Alistair helps him water the plants and continues to trim. He smiles at Arthur. “Doing good, the flowers are pretty dry. Your gardeners aren’t very good, are they?” He asks and cuts off the dead blooms. He leaves them in the garden to fertilize the plants. 

Arthur shook his head. “It’s not really their fault though. They are doing what they can while we get everything figured out. I’m going to pull all the staff together and maybe move people around so everything is more efficient. You can help with the gardeners if you want.”

Alistair nods, eyes bright. “That would be great!” He exclaims. The days and weeks leading up to their wedding was stressful for Alistair. He got the garden nursed back to health, but he also started noticing a weird feeling he gets around Arthur. His stomach tingles and hurts and his chest feels tight. 

Arthur nodded and smiled. He let Alistair help arrange the staff to their best abilities. He was finally starting to feel alright sleeping in his room again, since before he really just wanted to lay in his parent’s bed. That room had not been touched by anyone but him and one maid, though. He was going to preserve it. He was really starting to like Alistair, but he was desperate to not fall in love, knowing that Alistair didn’t believe in it. It kind of hurt. On the day of the wedding Arthur and a select few staff are in his parent’s room, getting Arthur ready. He sat on the bed and looked around while they fixed certain parts of his outfit. He took in a few deep breaths a told them to leave him alone for a moment. 

Once they were out he took another deep breath. “I hope this all goes how you would have wanted it” he whispered. “I know you wanted me to love the person I was meant for. I know that deep down. But I can’t let myself fall in love with someone who doesn’t believe in it. I’m so sorry mama” he whispered. He pulled the pictures out and looked over them. “I want you guys to see it. Promise me you’ll be there” he whispered, tears rolling off his cheeks and onto his lap. He wiped his eyes and put the picture away before standing up. He washed his face carefully and put on a smile, though it was not entirely fake. He was almost excited for this. 

Alistair is forced into a separate bedroom to get ready. His little sister watches the servants styling his hair and laughs softly when she sees the tux he’s supposed to change into. He steps into a bathroom then comes out in the suit. Reagan giggles louder and stands on a chair behind him, putting little bows in his hair then putting a flower crown on next. Alistair sits still and lets her, before hugging her tightly and grinning. “Arthur said you could be the flower girl. You’ll stand with us at the alter, okay?” He asks. His hair is sticking up, but he doesn’t let the servants take out the bows. Something occurs to him. 

Alistair does feel love, he realizes. Everything he does for his sister. The weird feelings he’s had toward Arthur. He holds Reagan closer then walks down to where she’s supposed to wait to walk down the aisle in front of Arthur. He gives her the little basket with rose petals and kisses the top of her head. He’s excited, he realizes, to tell Arthur that he thinks he knows what love is now. He is starting to get impatient about it by the time the music starts to announce Arthur’s entrance. 

Arthur shifted when the music started and he took in a few deep breaths before smiling and walking in as he was supposed to. He smiled brighter when he saw Alistair and made his way down the aisle. He stood in front of him and blushed slightly, smiling. He turned and looked at the priest, smiling at him. 

Alistair looks up when Arthur gets to him, grabbing his hand softly, as per tradition. He says the vows, starting to get more impatient with how long it’s taking. He gets slightly nervous when it’s time to kiss him, but he still pulls him close and kisses him deeply. “Arthur I love you.” He whispers when he pulls away, looking him in the eyes. “It took me a while, but I do, I love you so much.” 

Arthur turned to him when they were supposed to, careful to do everything how he was supposed to. He was a bit surprised at the real feeling kiss but he kissed back. His eyes went wide when he heard Alistair begin to speak. “You...You do? Oh god I’ve been trying so hard not to fall in love with you because I didn’t want it to hurt and it wasn’t working and oh god I love you too” he hugged Alistair tightly. 

Alistair looks down at him and kisses him again. Reagan hugs them both softly around the middle, smiling happily. The crowd cheers, and Alistair pulls away, blushing darkly, remembering where they are. He steps back and grabs Arthur’s hand softly, intertwining their fingers. Alistair glares at his parents and pulls Arthur away when they try to talk. 

Arthur blushed but kissed back, putting his arms around Alistair. He was a bit surprised when Reagan hugged them but he smiled. He laced his fingers in Alistair’s and looked at Alistair’s parents. He moved to be slightly behind him and followed him when he was pulled away. 

Alistair turns to Arthur. “Let me talk to my parents really quickly. I’ll be right back. Watch Reagan.” He says gently and kisses his forehead before walking away. He looks visibly angry when speaking with his parents. Reagan looks up at Arthur and grabs his hand softly, staying close. Her parents scare her a bit. 

Arthur nodded and smiled at him. He looked down at Reagan and leaned down to be closer to her. “Did you have fun?” He asked. “Was it you that put all those pretty flowers in Alistair’s hair?” He asked, chuckling a bit. “They look very nice”

Reagan looks up at him and nods. “I like your wedding. It’s really pretty. I did, he likes flowers so I made sure to put flowers and bows in his hair to make him prettier.” She smiles brightly and hugs him again. “Mamma and Papa are mean to Ali.” She whispers. “I hope they leave him alone after this.” She whispers and watches them fighting. It’s disturbing many of the guests. 

Arthur smiled and nodded. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’m sure he loved the hair you did for him then” he chuckled and hugged her back. He lifted her up and held her on his hip before looking at then looked over at their parents. “Yeah. I hope so” he chuckled a bit “I just hope that I don’t have to have the staff make them leave. Alistair is a king now. They can’t tell him what to do” 

Reagan smiles brightly. “That means I’m a princess here too. Because my big brother is the king. Are you going to have kids, Arthur?” She asks, putting her arms around Arthur’s neck to hold herself up. Alistair starts to come over to them, red in the face. When he sees them he smiles brightly instead and kisses Arthur’s cheek, then kisses his sister’s forehead. 

Arthur nodded. “You are a princess. You’re the prettiest princess” he whispered near her ear. “Don’t tell anyone else” he chuckled and smiled. He shrugged. “If Alistair wants children we’ll have them. If not you’ll probably get the throne” he chuckled and ruffled her hair. He looked at Alistair and kissed his cheek in return. He set her down and then looked at him again. “Are you okay?” 

Alistair nods. “Let’s cut the cake, yeah?” He asks. “Reagan is moving in with us. My parents don’t want her anymore. And we’re also going to start trading with one of those other kingdoms. My parents don’t want us to, so we’re going to do it.” He mutters, gently putting his arm around Arthur. “After our honeymoon, I’m gonna take Reagan to my old place to get her stuff, alright?” He rubs Arthur’s back gently. 

Arthur nodded. “Ah yes. I love this idea” he looked down at her and smiled brightly. “We are? What kingdom?” he asked. “My parents told me to be careful who I start trades with because they might try to abuse the fact that I’m young” 

Alistair tells him which kingdom. He smiles brightly at the crowd as he cuts off a piece of cake with Arthur. It takes him less than a second to scoop it up and smash it into Arthur’s face. Alistair smirks softly and licks the icing off of his fingers. 

Arthur sighed and nodded. He smiled and helped him cut the cake. His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped when Alistair shoved the cake in his face. “What the fuck?!” His eyes widened again and he covered his mouth, turning bright red. He scooped some off of his face and shoved it on Alistairs. 

A gasp rushes through the crowd. Alistair smirks at him, laughing softly when he cusses and laughing even harder when Arthur puts cake on his own face. He wipes it off and licks it up. “The cake is great everyone! Have a piece.” His eyes sparkle in amusement at Arthur. “You got angrier than I thought. My apologies, my King.” He whispers, leaning close. 

Arthur looked at Alistair and pouted. He chuckled and hugged him tightly. “Whatever. It’s not like the kingdom hasn’t heard cusswords. You should have heard my dad whenever they lost a business deal” he shrugged. 

Alistair looks down at him. “Please enjoy the food.” He tells the people in the crowd. Alistair hands Arthur a napkin with another smirk on his lips. “You’re so funny.” He gives a slice of cake to Reagan and pats her head gently. 

Arthur took the napkin and stuck his tongue out. He wiped off his face off and tossed the napkin. He took a piece of cake and started to eat it, chuckling softly. 

Alistair watches him. He doesn’t get any cake, not really wanting it. He chats with a few of the guests and stays near enough to Reagan to watch her and make sure no one hurts her. He kisses Arthur’s cheek after a while and sighs softly, wanting to leave. He’s never liked social gatherings. 

Arthur finished his cake and statyed with the desserts, enjoying them. He tried to avoid socializing but couldn’t get out of it and often got caught with chocolate drizzling down his chin. He chuckled weakly and smiled before apologising and running his fingers through his hair. He wiped his cheek and spoke with them for a while. He looked at Alistair and shifted a bit. He pushed his way closer to him. “Maybe we can go for a walk? You, me, and Reagan? In the garden?” He offered. 

Alistair is pressed into a wall, trying to get away from those people. He is too busy looking out the window with an uncomfortable look when he notices Arthur by his side. He breaths a sigh of relief when that is offered then nods. “Thank you so much. I’ll go get her.” He kisses Arthur’s forehead and picks up his sister, bringing her over to Arthur again. “Let’s go outside.” He hums, pushing his way through the crowd easily. 

Arthur walked with him outside and smiled at him. “I’m sorry about all this. It’s a lot of people, I know” He reached out and grabbed Alistair’s hand, kissing the top of his hand gently. “I love you” he whispered. “After today we only have to do one more event. I have to get coronated. So do you. It’s the same day and it’s a little different. We don’t really get to just leave. We have to stay inside but we can stay up on the elevated part and only a few people can be there at a time”

Alistair nods and looks up at Reagan, still holding her gently with one arm. He looks over at Arthur and kisses his cheek. “I love you too.” He whispers. The phrase still feels awkward on his tongue. He still isn’t sure what he’s feeling is love, but he wants it to be for Arthur, so he’ll let himself believe it is as well. He smirks softly and bounces Reagan slightly to adjust her. “And I’m going to design a nice crown for Reagan, so she’ll have a proper crown to be a princess.” He smiles up at her. 

Arthur smiled at him. “That sounds wonderful. She deserves the best princess crown in the whole world. She will make all the other princess’ jealous” He smirked at her and ruffled her hair before pulling them up to the gazebo and sitting down on the bench. “Is this better?” He asked. 

Alistair looks at Arthur and nods. “Thank you.” He pulls his now husband close to him and leans his head on Arthur’s. “Let’s get a proper dance, shall we?” He starts to sway to the faint music in the background. He kisses the top of his head and smiles softly. “I’ll stay calm at the crowning, I promise.” He whispers. 

Arthur smiled and put his arms around Alistair. “Okay, I’d like that” he swayed with him and blushed, though kept a smile on his face. “It’s okay, I’m sure we will do okay. I’ll figure something out if something happens” He assured. 

Alistair nods and looks at Reagan. He sticks his tongue out at her, making her giggle softly. He twirls Arthur gently. He’s thrilled when they finally go out on their honeymoon, glad to get to just relax instead of work. He pulls Arthur onto the bed of the secondary palace they are staying in, snuggling into him. 

Arthur blushed and chuckled softly, cheeks red. He kissed his nose and put his arms around him. He was honestly a bit nervous to go on the honeymoon. But he was glad it was just them. They needed to get to know each other better. He stumbled towards the bed and laughed softly as he laid next to him, snuggling into him as well. 

Alistair looks at him and leans close, kissing him lightly on the lips. He gently captures his lower lip between his teeth and tugs lightly. “Arthur your lips are beautiful.” He kisses his chin lightly then his jaw, leaving little bruises on his jaw with his teeth. “I won’t do anything you don’t want to.” Alistair says gently, pulling away from him. “You need to tell me if you’d like to make love.” 

Arthur kissed him in return, putting his arms around Alistair and shifting for better access. He nodded and blushed. “I was told this was when we would do that.” he whispered. “I’m a little nervous. I’ve never done anything like this before” he explained. “But I want to do it” His cheeks were a cherry red as he looked up at Alistair. 

“I haven’t either.” Alistair leans up and kisses him lightly. “We need some kind of oil or something, or else it’s going to hurt like hell. Lotion maybe?” He rubs his thighs softly, pulling Arthur on top of him. He cups his hips lightly, leaning up to kiss him lightly. 

Arthur nodded, kissing back softly. He was glad to hear that Alistair hadn’t either. At least they could figure it all out together then. He nodded again and shifted when he was on top of him. “I actually brought lotions. In case we did it.” He explained. He sat back slightly. 

Alistair smiles softly and nods. “Go get it.” He gets up and takes off his shirt, blushing softly as he looks at Arthur. He takes a deep breath, not really sure how to do it. But Arthur also wants to so he’s going to try his best. 

~~~~~

Arthur’s face was still a bright red as he snuggled into Alistair. He ran his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to mention anything unless Alistair brought it up so he just snuggled into him and relaxed.

Alistair holds him close, face also bright red. He runs his fingers through his hair and smiles in content. “God that felt amazing, Art.” He mumbles and leans down, pressing his lips to the top of Arthur’s head. “God I didn’t even realize it could be like that…” He sits up and grabs his pack of cigarettes, lighting one. 

Alistair holds Arthur close to him, snuggling close. Of course he doesn’t know how to love, and he doesn’t even know that he is in love, but he is more than willing to try for Arthur’s sake. He looks down at the blond. Yes, he’s more than willing to try.


End file.
